Burdens
by Leista
Summary: Crossover X Men & Phantom of the Opera Wolverine and the Phantom have a short meeting.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Burdens

Summary: Wolverine and the Phantom have a short meeting.

Fandom: X-Men & Phantom of the Opera. Don't ask.

Disclaimer: I do not own Phantom of the Opera or X-Men. I think it may be a good thing that I don't…

Warning: Nonsense? Perhaps slash undertones.

Notes: Don't ask. I really have no idea.

The Phantom eyed the man beside him. He was muscular and bestial, with a wild look. His dark eyes shifted like those of a caged beast.

"What is this place and who the hell are you?"

"I am Erik, the Phantom they call me, and this is my home."

"You live in the basement of an opera house?"

"How did you get here?" Erik was enthralled by the gruff rumble of the man's voice, so different from the pure and virtuous voice of his Christine. "Who are you?"

"Wolverine."

"Wolverine?"

"Or Logan." He cocked his head to the side as torchlight was reflected off the Phantom's pearly mask. "What's with the-" he motioned at his own, then Erik's face.

Erik sighed, "It is a burden I must wear in the company of others to ease their minds and eyes."

Logan shook his head and grimaced, "At least you can take the mask off, bub."

"Sometimes I wish I couldn't," Erik muttered, closing his eyes.

Wolverine extended a claw and gently flicked the mask off of Erik's face. It clattered to the stone floor a few paces away, ignored. Erik's eyes flew open as Logan leaned in, his eye boring into Erik's.

"Trust me. You should be grateful."

finis


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Burdens

Summary: Wolverine and the Phantom have a short meeting.

Fandom: X-Men & Phantom of the Opera. Don't ask.

Disclaimer: I do not own Phantom of the Opera or X-Men. I think it may be a good thing that I don't…

Warning: Nonsense? Perhaps slash undertones.

Notes: Don't ask. I really have no idea.

-------------------------------------------------------

Erik forced back a wince as he heard his mask clatter to the floor. He waited for the burly man to look away from his deformed face. When the eyes continued to stare into his own, as if they were looking past him at the wall at his back instead of Erik himself, he forced a glare just as strong back at them. A curl of the lip and a flash of pointed teeth is all he got in return. Losing his patience and not daring to attack a man with daggers in his very flesh, Erik turned with a flourish and hissed curse, disappearing down a winding corridor and leaving Logan alone in his lair to amuse himself.

Logan still was not quite sure where he was, but he wasn't quite ready to leave just yet. The moody recluse was piquing his curiosity too much for that… He knew the man was still nearby, his scent was still strong. _He's probably somewhere brooding… _How had a man who so obviously hated all humankind come to live in a place where they congregated and sang at the top of their voices? How had _he_ got there, now that you mention it? Logan tried to think back as far as he could, as he prowled the Phantom's home. He sliced a hand through the flames of a few candles, sending them guttering, as he remembered a haze of fog over a plain. _Or was it a lake? Maybe the ocean. That's right, I remember the sea breeze and the rocking of the ship, but how did I get here from there?_

Logan passed the piano without a second look, but had to stop and retrace his steps a few paces later to make sure his sharp eyes had not deceived him. A beautiful young girl stared back at him out of glass eyes and through a veil. _A beauty_, he thought, _but a child still. This Phantom has an eye for beauty. Maybe that's why his own abnormality galls him so much_… Logan peeked around a curtain, half expecting to see a young woman behind it.

"What are you doing still here?" The nerve of the man…

"Nice bed."

"I know. Haven't you tired of pestering me, young man?" Erik did not understand the bark of a laugh that followed this statement, but found himself relaxing as the other man smiled, feral but with no hint of danger.

"No where else to go, bub, that a problem?"  
"Yes, it happens to be. I do not enjoy company; you are a distraction from my work."

Logan let out another short laugh, more of surprise than humor "What kind of work could you do down here? You have it made…Don't have to put up with people any more than you have to, and you can build dolls to your heart's content."

The man's surprising laugh and gruff manner, even though Erik had not replaced his mask (it was still laying where it had fallen), was making him relax despite how obviously dangerous a man with daggers within his flesh was. "I happen to be a very talented composer, young man."

Erik did not understand why Logan found this so amusing, but found himself smiling and easing onto the bench of his piano. His guest was not going to deter him from getting this song finished.

Logan was thoroughly ignored and left to roam as he would throughout the Phantom's home. Like a wild animal that a young man may feed from day to day, but that will, if cornered or captured, lash out and stop at nothing to regain its freedom. Logan lay down on the plush carpeted floor, letting the notes of the piano run over him like cool water to relax tense muscles and ease never-ending hurts. He falls into a light doze, ready to awake at the smallest sound outside the tune being played. He didn't see how Erik's eyes widened at his sigh of contentment or notice when the music changed to a slightly gentler tune.

Logan came wide awake some time later; he didn't know if it'd been hours or minutes. The piano had quieted, apparently only seconds before, because the Phantom still sat, head bowed and fingers caressing the keys. He rose to his feet with a feline grace, and to Erik's surprise, sit next to him in front of the piano. Logan touched one key lightly, and listened as the note faded from the air to mere vibration that his sensitive hearing could still pick up.

Erik studied him, not sure if the man was toying with him or honestly interested with his work. Erik struck a few keys slowly, and motioned for Logan to repeat them. He winced at the sound that came, but failed to repress the smile at the other man's look of confusion. He repeated, instructing his unlikely student to pay close attention. Logan's next attempt was only slightly better.

He growled, "I'll stick with what I know, bub, and you stick with what you know." He stalked a few steps away to mutter away his anger, or to build it up enough to strike out, Erik wasn't sure which, but he just couldn't hold back the laugh at how angry such a strong, dangerous, and beautiful man had gotten over so small a thing. His laugh stopped suddenly, with a hand around his throat. His own. He hadn't known that he was able to laugh after all those years.

Logan turned from his pouting and growling at the sudden noise, and walked back to stand over the Phantom. He put a callous had on Erik's shoulder, squeezed only a little, and sat back down beside him. He realized how ridiculous it all was. A lonely, reclusive Phantom and a lone wolf, somehow not killing each other and even making one another laugh into the bargain. _What a sad, sad world it must be that two so similar and so different may find_ _solace together. _

TBC...(probably, because I am insane)

Note+cringes+ What did you think?


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